Skipping A Grade

By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D

Q:
My daughter is now 6 and attends a private school in
Washington, DC. When she was 5, she attended Kindergarten
for half a day before she was tested and promoted to 1st
grade. She is now excelling in 2nd grade and is ahead of
most of her classmates. The Principal, the teacher and I
have tried everything to keep her attention in 2nd grade to
no avail. In 1st grade she tested in the 99th percentile
across the board with Terra Nova and PALS 100%.

I am at my wits end because I can't see a 2nd grader in 3rd
grade halfway through the school year and cannot find a
gifted and talented program where we live. I don't think
that my daughter is a genius and I am worried about her
emotional well-being. She gets bored, frustrated and says
that she already knows the coursework. My daughter is almost
through the Times-Tables and interested in division. Should
I work on having her skipped again? Should I stop teaching
her more advanced material although she wants to do it, or
move to accommodate her need to learn at a more advanced
rate?

A: At this stage, the issues to
consider are really down the road for her. There have been
several cases of children who were skipped one or more years
ahead and are doing well as young teens now. What you may
need to keep in mind is that your daughter will enter
puberty later than her classmates, which while difficult for
any child for that matter, can be overcome with supportive
school staff and parents. Many factors have to be taken into
consideration here, e.g., her maturity, social environment
(able to socialize? many friends?), independence, physical
appearance (look too young? skinny?), etc. These are not
academic concerns but may affect her socio-emotional
well-being.

If your daughter shows evidence of social maturity now,
appears fairly even-tempered, and is able to mingle well
with most age groups, it is recommended that she be allowed
to skip grades. As a matter of fact, schools are usually
opposed to grade-skipping. Therefore, you need to discuss
this with her teachers and if they feel she should be
skipping grades, it usually means that they recognize the
special ability and uniqueness in her and are trying to
offer her the best the school can offer. In fact, they may
also be able to recommend other schools or programs that may
suit her better, if they are not able to cater to her
individual needs.

I personally do not think holding her back is a good idea.
If she wants to work on more advanced material, it would be
injustice to stop her from doing so. Home stimulation and
support of interests are vital to the development of your
daughter's abilities. If she is not given the appropriate
challenges, she may burn-out. You really need to seek help
from a education professional in your area to determine what
would be best for her and the best thing to do is to
accommodate to her needs to learn at a more advanced rate;
at the same time supporting her emotional needs. This is
going to be a tough journey for her carers, but the rewards
of satisfaction seeing her through it is incredible. Good
luck!